Valamar Blog

(1) Did you know that grape vine was brought to Istria by the old Greek and Phoenicians? As we have already mentioned in some posts on winery in Istria, favourable climate and soil have greatly contributed to cultivating grape vine, whereas the Histris started growing it and had with time perfected wine. We have also already mentioned Istrian “supica“ in our posts, whereas we should not forget to mention that Histris have learnt to dip bread in wine from the old Greeks. Contemporary wines were very strong, so the Greeks didn’t have the habit of drinking it during meals, rather they dipped bread in wine during breakfast. “Supa“, as a specialty of Istrian cuisine, has maintained a part of the Istrian cuisine all up to the present moment.

(1) Did you know that near Kanfanar there is Dvigrad, remains of an old Istrian town that, as its name says, consisted of two towns - Moncastello and Parentino. Moncastello is situated more to the north and its citizens abandoned in the 17th century, exhausted by sickness and barbarian attacks. As opposed to Montcastello, Parentin was abandoned in the 10th century, and according to the remains that have been found one can conclude that the town was very advanced and rich. Around 2000 citizens used to live there.

(1) Do you know who Valvasor was? That was a man we can thank for numerous graphics and inscriptions on ancient customs and beliefs, as well as the image of medieval Istrian towns. This versatile man, born in 1641, has among other things travelled across whole Europe and Africa, fought in war on the side of Nikola Šubi? Zrinski, and was also a member of the London Royal Society. Some of his graphics are kept today at the HAZU (Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) in Zagreb.

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